The Hidden Dangers Of Prescription Pill Addiction
Author: Bill Urell
Prescription pill addiction is not what first comes to mind when many people think of drug addiction; they tend to think more of addictions to alcohol or illegal drugs. Most people do not think about the possibility of an addiction to a prescription drug; however, prescription pill addiction is becoming more and more common in the United States.
Believe it or not, illegal drug usage among teenagers is actually on the decline, but on the negative side, prescription pill addiction is on the rise among out teenagers today. Since this is becoming a growing problem it is important that people become more aware of this type of addiction so they can spot it in friends or family members.
In some cases people end up being addicted to prescription drugs unknowingly as their body becomes more and more dependent on the drug. On the other hand, some teenagers and even adults actually seek out prescription drugs because of the great feelings they get when they take them. In fact, there is actually quite a market for prescription pills on the street, with pills like Vicodin selling for up to for one pill, or oxycodone for -/pill.
Once a person becomes addicted to these prescription pills usually you will begin to see some changes in them that may give you a clue that they are suffering from an addiction. First of all they may begin to take more and more of the drug and they will not be able to stop on their own. They may start taking higher dosages of the drug or they may also begin to take the prescription pills more frequently. Usually people who become addicted to prescription pills also begin to withdraw. The people, activities, and places that used to be so important to them may be totally left by the wayside. As the addiction grows, resentment may even occur towards close friends and family members, especially if they try to help.
If you or someone you know is showing signs of a prescription pill addiction it is imperative that you seek professional help. It is important to understand that both a physical and psychological addiction to the drug can occur, so it is going to be important that both problems are addressed. There are many great drug treatment centers that can help people who are addicted to prescription pills.
You can find help if you are having problem with an addiction or someone you know is having the problem. You can call Narcotics Anonymous for help, or you can check in your phone book for local treatment centers in your area. Many of the programs out there are absolutely free, so you have nothing to lose. It is absolutely essential that you get help immediately. Prescription pill addiction can lead down a very dangerous road, and if you do not get help immediately addiction to these kinds of pills can lead to overdoses and even death. It is time that you take control of your life and deal with this addiction once and for all.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-hidden-dangers-of-prescription-pill-addiction-205932.html
About the Author
Pick up your Free Addiction Recovery Help Guide, Over 97 pages of self help and recovery tips, resources and links to enhance your life in addiction recovery.The author, Bill Urell MA.CAAP-II, is an addictions therapist at a leading drug addiction treatment center. He teaches healthy life styles and life skills. Tell your story! Visit: http://www.AddictionRecoveryBasics.com/
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Why do kids take up smoking today?
Beyond the obvious answer such as image (its cool) or its peer pressure, why do teenagers take up smoking?
More importantly, whst runs through their head when they start the habit?
There are endless campaigns from government, health groups, doctors to quit, mountains of advertising for quit-smoking products, public smoking bans (UK, Australia) and even the cartons themselves have around 50% of the surface area warning people of the dangers.
And this isn’t new!! The PARENTS of teenagers today have grown up under anti-smoking canpaigns (given tobacco adertising was pretty much banned in the mid 1970′s).
Love to hear from teenagers who have started then stopped, would like to stop, havent stopped or WONT stop.
Thanks – BM
Oh, no silly little answers like “its cool”, “why not”, “it’s my right” please. Thanks
I quit about 2 years ago (after my dad spent 2 weeks in a coma from…..you guessed it, 30 years of smoking) and now I wonder that myself sometimes, the answers I’ve gotten from friends are things like, “It’s relaxing”, some people have said that it helps them loose weight. Obviously “It’s cool” or “to help me fit in” are popular answers, but I think they are viable. If you enter a new situation (high school/college) image at the start is everything. It may be an “in” to a group or a frat. My friend swears by the relaxing explaination, he says that when he’s stressed out he likes to take a short walk and smoke a cigarette. My ex-girlfriend said when she stopped smoking she didn’t change anything in her diet and she gained weight; so she started again. Lastly, when you start, depending on how old you are (this sounds stupid but its true) you feel rebellious. Maybe not outwardly, but I believe most younger smokers would attest to this. If your 15 it may feel cool, if your 19 and in College it could be an expression of your new found freedom. All in all its a terrible habit, but the effect is over such a long period (usually) that its hard to drive home the danger. People say things like “oh i’ll quit in a few years” or “oh i’m only 19, I’ll be alright”, the truth is, it is extremely hard to quit, cigarettes are addictive, and you will feel the effects of even short term smoking for the rest of your life.
-Sorry for writing a book : – )
Why do people, especially teenagers, do drugs even after learning about the dangers of them?
With all the healths risks of doing drugs, (LSD, marijuana, cigarettes, alcohol, etc) and even after learning about them, why do people experiment and do drugs for recreational use? Is the “high” really that worth it, to put your health at risk? As a teenager myself, I especially am interested in a fellow teen’s answer as to why they smoke, or drink alcohol.
Well, speaking as a former teen — I guess I’d say that I went through some of the same stuff as you’re going now, forex I was really anti-smoking, and then a friend of mine started smoking and kept telling me to try it, told me how great it was. So I got curious, wanted to know if it was really that good, and did. And then I didn’t like it at first and was about to stop, but I saw other kids doing it and figured they must be doing it for some reason — and so I kept doing it and got the hang of it. And then it was great, I have to admit that, I loved it, you’re basically high all the time but it isn’t the sort of high that impairs you — your less anxious, more outgoing, more creative, even more horny. It sort of puts your life in high gear.
And then you get addicted, and you start worrying about your health, and you try for years to quit . . . I eventually did but it took something like 35 years.
Other drugs are similar, they all make you feel good in a way that, let’s face it, life can’t. And they all have a cost, sometimes terrible. Which you haven’t seen yet as a teen, it isn’t until your 20′s and 30′s that you see what drugs and too much alcohol do to people, how they eat away at them bit by bit, year by year.
Are teenagers in danger by treating their bodies badly?
Drinking, smoking, caffeine, weed…is it a huge danger to our bodies? Or are we kind of safe because of our age, if we quit when we’re older?
Doing that stuff will affect our bodies no matter at what age you do it at. But since teens are young, their bodies can more easily handle the abuse and can heal better.
Teenagers want freedom and danger and exhilaration?
I am a teenager; most end up drinking or smoking whatever
keeping away from this stuff, what are some ideas of things I can do just for myself… something freeing, exhilarating?
Three teenagers in my house, help?
Three teenagers in my house and i need some help?
I’m a mother of 4 children + legal guardian of a boy and life in the last couple of days has been hectic. I should first say I’m not the best writer so bare with me. I have to start with little back story.
Like I said before my husband and I are the legal guardians of a 16 year old boy his name is Ross. His mom and I were best friends almost like sisters, and when she died, she had no other family and taking in Ross was not a problem for us. He was basically family. He call me his aunt if that helps tell you how close I am with him. This was two years ago when he moved in. You should know that he was dating my daughter Emily before he moved in and we allowed them to continue dating because we didn’t want to cause internal family problems. But before he moved we told him and our daughter if they had sex or sexual acts that we would kick him out. And the past two years have been fine with them as a couple.
My family loves Ross he is a great student, he has a great personality, he is very athletically gifted, he is getting recruited and letters form colleges/universities to play baseball and football, we are very proud of him.
Up until a couple of weeks ago everything has been fine, but then I guess hell broke loose. My daughter Emily and Ross where caught in compromising position and my husband and I sat them down and talked to them about their decision making. Then in the same day we caught them in another compromising position outside in his car. I tried to use a scare tactic on my daughter by telling to remember the deal about Ross leaving if they had sex or sexual acts. That’s what I think started it and then it escalated. Well for the next couple of days I saw my daughter moping around and I assumed that she was just tired or some type of teenage mood swing, and then next couple of days she was just bouncing off the walls completely happy. Again I thought it was a teenage mood swing. But then, I caught her outside at 2am smoking pot in our back yard, and I checked her room and she had a lot of it hidden under her bed. I very upset, and when I asked her why she said that she was stressed out and she told me how she didn’t want Ross to leave And I’m just so shock by my daughter because it out of her character my daughter, she has/had everything going for her. She is a high school sophomore, an above 4.0 student, AP student, student counsel member, a tutor, a young community leader, she apart of many organizations and clubs: like choir, apart NHS, and she’s a three sport athlete. Well, of course I was mad, I sat her down and had a talk telling her the dangers of drugs and I told her I was just using Ross as a threat so they would slow down.
But when things started to get better, it got worst Ross for the first I’ve ever seen got angry. He got angry at me and my husband but mainly me. telling us yesterday how my daughter Emily told him that we were going to kick out. He told us how he feels like he can’t make a mistake because he thinks we want to leave him like everyone else. We tried to talk to him after but he just wasn’t listening to us. He wont even look at me, he has the same look he had when his mom died. And I don’t know what to do.
And now to my 15 year old daughter, Ellie, her “best” friend who’s a girl was staying over our house for the night last night and I walked in on them in our basement having oral sex with this girl. This so out of character I don’t even know I what to think. I yelled at my Ellie and she said she wasn’t doing anything that Emily wasn’t doing. I think you can see were I’m going now. I can’t believe my innocence Ellie would do something like this.
(My husband and I accept our daughter Ellie sexuality so please don’t go there.) We are extremely upset about Ellie doing this. I don’t know what to do. I know I told Emily and Ross, that Ross would be out if they had sex, but I can’t and I won’t kick him out. And yes, we knew Ellie was gay but we didn’t know she was doing that. And now Ross won’t talk to me.
I don’t know what do and any help or advice on our family situation would be very helpful
you have to be harsher
kids shouldn’t act like pigs